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Dead Air
Dead Air is a five-chapter Left 4 Dead campaign. On first release, it was the third campaign in the game but moved to fourth position in the wake of the subsequent issue of the Crash Course campaign. The Dead Air campaign is also being ported over to Left 4 Dead 2. The beta was released July 22, 2011 due to Valve's promise if 20,000 Left 4 Dead 2 players earned the achievement "Stream Crosser" by completing the Cold Stream Campaign. The beta features the melee weapons from Left 4 Dead 2; however, Valve also mentioned that they have changed chapters 4 and 5 of the campaign. The campaign opens, somewhat bemusedly, in a rooftop greenhouse when a low-flying C-130 sparks the idea that the local airport may still be operating evacuation flights. Thereafter, the campaign follows the challenges and travails of The Survivors as they make their way through Newburg to its Metro International Airport. Along the way, they must traverse rooftops, apartment buildings, office cubicles, defy health and safety regulations by lowering a dumpster using a crane, shoot their way through a de-constructed construction site, surmount the manifold dangers posed by an electrical substation, find somewhere safe in short-term airport parking, deliver various keynote addresses at the airport's conference center, attempt to check in, discover what really happens to lost airline luggage, battle crowds in the departure lounge, check their economy boarding passes before proceeding to the departure gate, and (in true budget airline tradition) ensure the airplane is prepped to fly before finally boarding their flight through the rear exit. Below is a complete list of video walkthroughs of the 5 levels: #The Greenhouse #The Crane #The Construction Site #The Terminal #Runway Finale Please know that the gameplay videos are on each campaign's info page, not on each map page. Official description Guide your team of Survivors out of the downtown core of Newburg's business district, through derelict office floors and still-inhabited cubicles, and out onto the runway of Metro International Airport, where the only thing standing between you and the last plane out of the city is a murderous army of the undead.http://www.l4d.com/l4d/campaigns.htm Graffiti up to Runway Finale.]] * There are several instances on the rooftops where one may find writing, such as "Help! Need food," or "S.O.S." There are also numerous writings about how a bomb will be dropped on the airport. * In The Terminal's starting safe room, a piece of graffiti states, "WE ARE THE REAL MONSTERS" on the wall, along with various other messages below it telling the writer that they are a moron, telling them that the Infected are the real monsters, and somebody even tells them that he wishes that they are dead now. * On the same wall, written in small letters, is the famous graffiti, stating, "I miss the internet". * In one sentence, it claims that the Infected were created by the military. Following that, there is a rumor that the government is giving a cure to the rich. Below that is a claim that the virus was made by aliens, along with a writing saying "What if this was first contact?" followed by "What if you're an idiot?!" *Rare appearances of Infected military personnel can sometimes be glimpsed just outside the Greenhouse. * Several times throughout the campaign, the phrase "God is dead" can be seen. This was a statement originally made by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and has heavily been quoted since. However, the phrase could have also been a reference to a line in the final act of, The Crucible. Occasionally, the Survivors may respond to the writings, saying things such as, "Oh, no! The zombies killed God!" * In the safe room of The Crane, there is some graffiti on the wall that states "This is our punishment." Right under this is the sentence "It's just Dead Air"―a reference to the title of the campaign. Achievements :See Main Article: Achievements Behind the Scenes Only one screenshot of Dead Air was shown before the game was released. On this basis and an early Runway image in the game's files, it is evident that Dead Air was originally intended to have a light blue "moonlight" visual tint. There is also an unreleased map called tutorial_standards that was originally going to be part of this campaign as the Dead Air poster can be seen at the end of this level. This also works with Left 4 Dead 2. And another one is called "map c5m1_waterfront_sndscape". (The second one only works with Left 4 Dead 2) Originally, the third chapter was called "The Garage".left4dead\missions\airport.txt Notes * The desperation of the situation The Survivors find themselves in is underscored by strong evidence that the airport is out of service through aerial bombing. Not only does graffiti throughout the campaign make this claim, but it is also reinforced through random Survivor dialogue to the same effect; for example, near the end of Runway Finale, sometimes the Survivors may state the airport was bombed to prevent the Infection from spreading and near the skyway in The Terminal, Francis may say, "What idiot bombed the airport?" * "Bombing the airport" can be said to foreshadow a central theme in Left 4 Dead 2's The Parish campaign, wherein the military undertakes the aerial bombing of Infected-overrun New Orleans. * "Dead Air" is a broadcasting term referring to a mistake made by a radio station announcer or DJ when the microphone is not switched on so the only thing heard on the radio is either static or, more commonly, nothing at all. * The term "Dead Air" is also used to describe air that is taken into the lungs but is not absorbed and thus does nothing until it is exhaled, hence Dead Air (this term is not used often, even among biologists). * Dead Air has the largest number of unused character lines. Bill only has lines for The Terminal. * There are five real-life Newburg boroughs in Pennsylvania, but the largest one, in Cumberland County, has a population of 388 (as of 2009), which is nowhere near as it appears in Left 4 Dead. However, it is located close to the Allegheny National Forest, and appears to be based on Pittsburgh in its size, geography, and landmarks such as the international airport. * Using console commands, type in "tutorial_standards" and in the end of the level, it says, "Dead Air," so this could be a possible cut level from Dead Air. The level is mainly called Warehouse Finale. * Francis' pose on the campaign poster is the same as that for Death Toll, only it is lighted differently. * The flash on Bill's beret is the blue U.S. Army flash in this poster. On all other posters (as well as in-game), it is the yellow flash of the U.S. 1st Special Forces Group. It is also one of two posters in which he is missing his trademark cigarette. The other one is the poster of The Sacrifice. * There is a port of this campaign created as a custom campaign for Left 4 Dead 2 which features a Scavenge finale instead. * The C-130 used in this campaign is a Republic Of Korea Air Force C-130 as there is a ROKAF inscription on the tailfin. The pilot, however, may not be Korean since he speaks with a strong Midwestern American accent. * The Sacrifice comic (released September 2010) has Francis stating that the rescue plane crashes. This event can be interpreted as denoting the point at which the Blood Harvest begins. * The background lighting in this campaign can be interpreted as being the result of the sunrise or sunset. However, this is actually due to distant fire and smoke hinting at the possibility of previous episodes of widespread unchecked urban chaos, aircraft crashes, and deliberate military actions such as demolitions and bombing. * At the start of The Greenhouse, Zoey says "We can't stay up here forever," suggesting that the Survivors had been camping out there for a while, but could also suggest they are low on supplies from the start of their stay. In the opening scene, the C-130 is shown with its undercarriage lowered. This fact, together with its sudden, low level appearance and the Survivor's reactions (cf. Zoey's statement above) all imply that Metro International Airport has been out of service for the entire time they have been holed up in The Greenhouse. * This campaign was to be released for Left 4 Dead 2 early if 20,000 Left 4 Dead 2 players earned the achievement STREAM CROSSER by completing the Cold Stream campaign. The goal was reached within four hours, and Valve released a beta of Dead Air for Left 4 Dead 2 on July 22nd 2011. References Category:Campaigns * Category:Left 4 Dead